A Plain Morning
by marianna
Summary: Postfinale fic, written for the 100 Situations prompt 'splatter'. Dick finds out about Cassidy.


It's one of those insane days, the ones where it's already noon, but the sun is so overcast that it feels like dawn. The suite is strangely quiet, but Dick figures with it being so early, Logan is still sleeping. He's not so sturdy himself, so he doesn't bother trying to wake him. Maybe he and Beav will come over later for some _Revenge of the Sith_. Or even _Warcraft_, even though Beav is better at it than he is. He'll never admit to it though, and as annoying as he can be sometimes-and that's pretty fucking annoying, Beav would never spread it around, either. He's kinda cool like that.

The hallways are empty too, when he gets off the elevator. There aren't even like, maids around, which surprises him, but it's kind of like, it's kind of on the _edges_. He's not really thinking of why it's so quiet, or why his cell phone is beeping like crazy in his back pocket-Beav probably forgot his keys again, no big. If the kid is with Ghost World, he'll find some way to-

And then he stops, because there are flashing lights and reporters outside the glass doors of the Grand, and he knows that like, Aaron Echolls is staying here now, but as he spins around, he doesn't see him anywhere. Fucking figures, the guy probably ducked out somewhere, and he wishes that he could duck out of a back entrance too, except he doesn't want to have his picture taken with that douche bag. Even though they say he didn't kill Lilly, Dick is pretty sure he did. And just for that, the dude should pay. Because Lilly? She always got the _best_ weed.

"Excuse me, sir, this is a closed area." There's a tiny guy at his shoulder with this pencil thin mustache who kind of looks like some famous guy Beav would probably know if he were here. It's gonna bug Dick for the rest of the day, and he's contemplating whipping out his camera phone to take a picture when the guy just says, "Oh." And it's really quiet, and Dick kind of flinches as Mr. Mustache-no, no, _Mustache Guy_, puts his hand on his arm, because his face has gone all serious, and that is never a good sign this early in the morning. What fucking time is it anyway? "Dick Casablancas?" He asks, and Dick stiffens up, because fuckin' yeah, he's Dick Casablancas, but who the hell is this guy? So he says,

"Who the fuck's askin'?" And crosses his arms in front of him, all serious and snooty right back.

"Mr. Casablancas, have you left the Neptune Grand since your arrival last evening?" The guy's voice is seriously getting on Dick's nerves and his phone is still beeping in his back pocket like it has something important to tell him, but it's only Beav and it can't be that vital, and then he just stops. Because there's a picture of him and Beav in this guy's hand, and nobody fucking messes with the Casablancas brothers.

"No." He says, and he's really fucking tired, and he pulls out his cell, and there are-fuck, there are 32 missed calls, and Dick _knows_ that he's a hit with the ladies, but 32? Shit. "Say, what are you doing with a picture of my brother?" He doesn't add the and me, because duh, he's right here, he can obviously see that the picture is of him too. He holds his hand up for a second as Mustache Guy begins to speak, turning his back so he can call Beaver.

A noise from this like, over sized duffel bag Dick hadn't even noticed on the floor begins to sound. And then, it's all in slow motion as the guy rifles through it, pulling out Beav's phone, and Dick can clearly see the Ninja Turtle stickers he'd stuck on there last week, the one's he'd found in his cereal, and he can hear the crappy fucking Dashboard Confessional song Beav had picked for his ring tone, and then the world starts going black around the edges.

"What the _fuck_ are you doing with my brother's phone?" But as the guy answers, giving a long and complicated speech probably, the only words Dick can pull out are, 'suicide' and 'off the ledge'. Except no. No way. Beav would not-he would _not_ off himself. He tries to tell Mustache Guy, tries to explain that yeah, his brother is a pansy ass sometimes, but he's not crazy, and he absolutely would not-he wouldn't do something like that. But all he manages to say is, "Where is he?" And there are fucking tears in his eyes, even though he blinks them away, because Beav is NOT dead. He isn't. He's gonna jump out of somewhere and this all some sick joke, and no. His little brother is not dead. It didn't happen. "Where is he?" He asks again, and this time is voice is stronger and firmer, even though he doesn't know where the _fuck_ that came from and Mustache Guy is just shaking his head saying,

"I'm sorry that won't be possible, Mr. Casablancas." And Dick really wants to shut him up, because his voice has gone all soft, and he keeps calling Dick that, and that's not his fucking name. It's _Dick_. Mr. Casablancas is his dad, and his dad is the asshole who abandoned them.

"I want to see my brother." He says again, and the black is taking over on all sides, and he can feel it, and he can feel the guy's hand on his shoulder again, but it's like _his_ hands won't work because he can't flick him away, and all he really wants to do is see Beav and maybe Ghost World too, because now that she and Beav are back together, she's always around, so if she's somewhere, Beav'll be close behind, and why aren't they getting him his brother?

"Mr. Casablancas," Mustache Guy says again, but Dick can't see him anymore, because everything is black, and he can feel the tears streaming down his cheeks now, and he's choking trying to keep them in, biting his lip so hard that's it's fucking bleeding, and it hurts, or maybe it feels like it _should_ hurt, but it doesn't, and it feels like he's watching himself from somewhere else. Someone else's brother is dead. Not his. Beav is home doing homework even though it's a Sunday, because unlucky for him, there's still a week left for underclassmen, and he's definitely not dead. He did not fall off the ledge of the Neptune Grand and splatter on a parked Ford, 50 feet below. He didn't. He was upstairs with Ghost World. He didn't die. HE DID NOT DIE. And it's not until now that Dick realizes he's screaming out the words.

And he passes out before Mustache Guy can get out another word.


End file.
